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Academic Planning
Our counsellors can help students decide when distance learning and online courses are a good option. Our academic counsellors can also help students determine the courses necessary to graduate. Graduation Requirements and a planning chart are available on the Alberta Distance Learning Centre website. An academic counsellor can be phoned toll-free from inside Canada by dialing 1-866-774-5333.
Students considering taking online or distance learning courses may wish
to determine if online and distance learning courses will meet their
needs. Links to a few videos about taking online and distance learning courses are listed below.
Registering in courses from outside of Canada requires a significant amount of planning. International students may need to contact our counsellors before registering in courses. In some cases, international transcripts or placement exercises need to be evaluated so students can know what courses they need to take. Processing international registrations takes additional time, because shipping estimates need to be obtained, and the shipping fees need to be approved before a student is registered in courses. Ideally, students should start the registration process six to eight weeks before the start of a semester.
We strongly recommend against Grade 12 students registering after the start of a semester, because that places them too far behind to complete their studies in time to write the Provincial Diploma Exams for their core Grade 12 academic courses. Grade 12 students are encouraged to start their studies a month before the start of each semester, because they should plan to have all of their course work completed and submitted well before the end of the semester. Students needing to write Provincial Diploma Exams in January may want to start their studies August 1 and end their studies at the end of November. Students planning on writing Provincial Diploma Exams in June may wish to start their studies January 1 and end their semester at the end of April.
International students need to inquire about the tuition cost. The total cost of courses includes books, materials, shipping, miscellaneous fees, and the tuition fee. The cost of books and materials is given in the Online Registrations Guide.
International students are encouraged to keep in close contact with our counsellors to determine what courses they should take. Students wanting to attend a Canadian college or university must contact the college or university they wish to attend to determine the required courses. Links to many of the larger colleges and universities in Canada can be found on our Canadian Colleges and Universities page. High School students can e-mail our High School Counsellor, Gary Simpson. Elementary and Junior High School students can e-mail Jake Warkentin.
Provincial Diploma Exams
Students must write Provincial Diploma Exams to obtain credit for Grade 12 English, Math, Science, and Social Studies courses. Shortly after the semester starts, international students need to start making arrangements for the Provincial Diploma Exams. Alberta Education has forms students complete to apply to write a Diploma Exam outside of Alberta. Forms for establishing Special Writing Centres must be completed. The steps required to get a Provincial Diploma Exam Centre approved could be time consuming, so students are not able to delay finding a person qualified to supervise Diploma Exams. Additional information about establishing a Special Writing Centre is found on our Exam Writing page.
Note: Because a student's request to write a Provincial Diploma Exam outside of Alberta could be declined, students taking Grade 12 Provincial Diploma Exam courses outside of Alberta need to be prepared to travel to Alberta to write the Provincial Diploma Exams.
Fees for International Students
Planned fees for international students for the 2011/2012 school year are as follows:
- Grades 1 to 6 - $917.00 per course
- Grades 7 to 9 core courses (Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Health) - $734.00
- Grades 7 to 9 complementary courses - $500.00 per course
- Grades 10 to 12 - $105.00 per credit. Academic High School courses are 5-credit courses. The international tuition fee for a 5-credit High School course is $525.00.
International students need to add the cost of books, materials and shipping to the tuition fees for each course.
We recommend that students who are living outside of Canada and the United States try to email their assignments to teachers, because of the cost of air mail. Students living outside of Canada and the United States who want to mail their completed lessons to Alberta Distance Learning Centre need to provide an air mail deposit to help cover the cost of returning corrected lessons by air mail. We recommend a minimum of $75.00 air mail deposit per course. When a student's air mail account needs additional fees, we will contact the student.
International Student - Defined
The exact definition of an international student can be complex. The examples of international students that appear below are not intended to be a thorough definition. For Alberta Distance Learning Centre purposes, the following students are considered to be international students:
- Non-Canadians citizens who live outside of Canada
- Students studying in Canada with a student visa
- Canadians who live outside of Canada and who are not residents of Canada
Students who are not sure if they classify as an international student or who are not certain how to demonstrate that they are Canadian residents are encouraged to contact one of our counsellors.
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